Here is another testimony taken by a member of our International Witness Delegation. Lilian, a 46-year old resident of Tegucigalpa, was in the region of the Brazilian Embassy yesterday, along with hundreds of others, celebrating democratically-elected president Mel Zelaya’s return. At about 5:30am, members of the police and military came to displace the assembly. They used tanks to surround the area and began firing tear gas and live bullets into the crowd in an attempt to concentrate people in one area. At that time, Lilian was vomiting from the strong effects of the tear gas.

Twenty-four year-old Eric was participating in his Tegucigalpa neighborhood’s protest last night when the nonviolent gathering was attacked by police. He was beaten with police batons before being detained for two hours along with a nineteen year-old compañero.Police continued to beat Eric after he was detained. “They made us put our hands flat on chairs so they could beat them,” he said. He heard police talking among themselves about killing them.

They’ve declared another full-day curfew today, which is disastrous for most people, who need to work every day for income, and who therefore buy food on a day-to-day basis. People are calling into television and radio stations saying they don’t have any food in their houses, and in some neighborhoods the water has been cut, too. One woman just called in and said that her mom is diabetic and hasn’t had insulin in three days. Even if these individuals decide to defy curfew, as many are doing, the stores and markets are closed.

The protesters camped out in front of the Brazilian Embassy were violently attacked and removed from the Embassy with live rounds of ammunition and tear gas. There are at least 4 people wounded. President Zelaya was in the middle of an interview with Radio Globo early this morning from inside the Brazilian Embassy, struggling to talk through the tear gas, when the Radio Globo signal was once again cut. The curfew started yesterday at 4pm has been extended until 6pm today.

Miskito communities in Waspam are working hard to build homes from salvaged lumber before the next rains set in.  See our full report.

We are seeing some amazing and frightening instances of the destructive power of Hurricane Felix.  The below images are from the work of Mirjana Kavelj with the UN World Food Program.

Despite the elections in the United States and Nicaragua, there is still cause for concern over U.S. intentions for the Nicaraguan people.  Even as Donald Rumsfield resigned in disgrace, Bush appointed an unhappily familiar face to replace him.

Dear Friend of Nicaragua,

I want to address a few complaints about the $25 contribution to include your signature in the full page ads that appeared in the two Nicaraguan papers on October 13. We publicly challenged the U.S. Ambassador Paul Trivelli to stop trying to manipulate the Nicaraguan voting process. Our ads produced a strong defensive reaction from the Embassy.

"Nicaragua has announced plans to build a waterway linking the Pacific and Atlantic that would carry bigger ships than the existing Panama Canal."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5405884.stm

Our Hands off Nicaragua campaign has generated a terrific response since we launched it September 13th. Over 650 of you have signed the open letter to Ambassador Trivelli opposing U.S. interference in Nicaragua's elections, and contributed $25 or more to get that letter published in La Prensa and Nuevo Diario on October 13th.

Since we launched the campaign, the U.S. has stepped up its interference in the electoral process. Just two examples from recent weeks:

• Just last week, U.S. Congressman Dan Burton, Chair of the sub-committee on Western Hemispheric affairs, visited Nicaragua and threatened that a Sandinista victory would mean war, inflation and destabilization and that aid from the US might be cut off. Said he, "It is important that the people know what could happen if the FSLN wins the elections."
• In late September Ambassador Trivelli was identified as the instigator of an effort to use a massive survey of voter preferences among the anti-Sandinista forces as a means of uniting the opposition to Ortega.

Clearly, our voice is needed more than ever to let the Nicaraguans know that there are Americans who support their right to free and fair elections. We need at least 150 more signatures by this Sunday to get the letter published in the newspapers. If you haven't yet signed the letter and contributed, now is the time. Click here to sign the letter and contribute to its publication.